Staff photo by Don Himsel James Marks listens to arraignments in Milford District Courth Tuesday, October 6, 2009. Marks is the father of William Marks.

Staff photo by Don Himsel James Marks listens to arraignments in Milford District Courth Tuesday, October 6, 2009. Marks is the father of William Marks.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Marks’ dad facing drug charges

By HATTIE BERNSTEIN

Staff Writer

BROOKLINE – Police routinely arrest motorists for possession of a small amount of marijuana, presumably carried for personal use.

The offense is a class B misdemeanor and carries a minimum fine of $350, and no jail time. Police say they routinely arraign for our five people per month on the same charges.

Such arrests only make the headlines when the offender has a public face, or is related to someone in the limelight, as is the case of James Marks, 47, of 464 Boston Post Road in Amherst.

Marks is the father of William Marks, 19, who is in jail on charges related to the home invasion in Mont Vernon last October when Kimberly Cates was murdered, and her then-11-year-old daughter was brutally attacked.

During the trial of ringleader Steven Spader, William Marks testified that he and his father schemed during jailhouse talks about ways to make money by selling his son’s story to national media outlets. The larger outlets were targeted because the pair thought they would pay more than local newspapers and television news stations, William Marks testified.

Spader’s defense lawyer, Jonathan Cohen, brought up the conversations during his cross-examination, and while Marks maintained that was not behind his testimony for the state, Cohen implied that in effect Marks was selling his knowledge to the jury to get a lesser punishment rather than for cash.

James Marks is the only parent of the five young men charged in connection to the 2009 home invasion attack who has spoken with the media, and has done so often, both immediately after the murder and following some of his son’s hearings at Hillsborough County Superior Court.

James Marks was initially pulled over for a defective equipment violation, and during the stop police found a small amount of marijuana in his possession, leading to the arrest.

Master Patrolman Douglas Barnett said that the elder Marks was stopped just after midnight on Oct. 21.

Marks will be arraigned next Tuesday in Milford District Court at 8:30 a.m. on drug charges.

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100 ext. 24 or hbernstein@nashuatelegraph.com. Joseph G. Cote contributed to this story.